Kentucky turned the newest faculty basketball blue blood to be ousted from the N.C.A.A. males’s event in its first weekend.
One day after Duke and Kansas, the reigning champion, had been knocked out within the second spherical, No. 6 seed Kentucky was overwhelmed by Kansas State, 75-69. Though Kansas State was seeded No. 3, Kentucky had been favored within the recreation, by 3 factors.
Kentucky’s loss mirrored one other on Saturday by Duke, which was seeded fifth and misplaced to No. 4 seed Tennessee by 13, regardless of odds that mirrored its recognition and betting help.
Markquis Nowell, Kansas State’s 5-foot-8 level guard, had an excellent recreation with 27 factors and 9 assists, carving up the Kentucky protection with well timed passes, huge 3-point pictures and clutch free throws.
“They were playing me for the pass because I dropped a lot of dimes in the first half,” Nowell stated. “I tried to look for my own shot a little bit more and be more aggressive, and I wanted to go to New York.”
Nowell, a Harlem native, will return house for his subsequent recreation: Kansas State (24-9) will play within the spherical of 16 on Thursday at Madison Square Garden towards the winner between No. 2 seed Marquette and No. 7 seed Michigan State.
Ismael Massoud and Florida switch Keyontae Johnson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to place Kansas State up 67-62 after it trailed by 1. Nowell made six foul pictures within the ultimate seconds.
The loss was the newest stinging defeat for Kentucky Coach John Calipari, the highest-paid coach in faculty basketball, and is more likely to spur additional unrest among the many rabid Kentucky followers often known as Big Blue Nation.
Calipari led Kentucky to the nationwide championship in 2012 and to a few different Final Four appearances. But final 12 months, the Wildcats had been surprised as a No. 2 by the No. 15-seeded St. Peter’s within the first spherical, they usually missed the event altogether in 2021.
“There’s a high expectation level, and it is Kentucky,” Calipari stated. “You put that on. The other team is going to play out of their minds, and they’re going to play like they have nothing to lose.”
Under its first-year coach, Jerome Tang, Kansas State was picked to complete final within the Big 12 Conference but has loved its first successful season since 2018-19. It final made the spherical of 16 in 2018, underneath its earlier coach, Bruce Weber, who retired after final season.
For Kentucky, Oscar Tshiebwe, the nationwide participant of the 12 months final season, was dominant within the paint with 25 factors and 18 rebounds, whereas freshman Cason Wallace notched 21 factors and 9 rebounds earlier than fouling out within the ultimate seconds. — Adam Zagoria
Iowa survived Georgia’s upset bid.
Second-seeded Iowa and its star shooter, Caitlin Clark, are heading to the ladies’s spherical of 16 after simply holding off Georgia in a tightly contested recreation.
The groups traded blows and exchanged the lead 9 occasions, but the Hawkeyes took a lead on the finish of the third quarter that they wouldn’t relinquish. Iowa managed sufficient elbow room within the fourth quarter to carry off the Bulldogs, 74-66, whilst they pulled inside 2 with simply over 2 minutes left on Audrey Warren’s 3-pointer, her solely basket of the sport.
From there, Clark spent a lot of the remainder of the sport attempting to weave between Georgia defenders as they tried to foul her, hitting the ground a number of occasions. Clark hit a jumper and 4 free throws within the ultimate minute, maybe her most necessary moments in a recreation by which she by no means left the ground and tallied 22 factors and 12 assists regardless of capturing solely 35 %.
Georgia, which hasn’t made the spherical of 16 since 2013, tried to stifle Clark with fast protection, which caught the Hawkeyes off guard for a lot of the primary half. Diamond Battles stored issues shut together with her outdoors capturing and completed with 21 factors.
Still, it was no match for Clark’s wizardry and ball management, particularly within the ultimate minutes.
The Hawkeyes will meet the winner between Duke and Colorado, which play Monday evening, on Friday in Seattle. — Remy Tumin
After early hiccups, South Carolina rolled into the spherical of 16.
It appeared, for a number of early moments, like girls’s faculty basketball was in for a seismic upset.
South Carolina, the general No. 1 seed and odds-on favourite to win the N.C.A.A. event, was trailing eighth-seeded South Florida, 16-12, after one quarter. The Gamecocks had been hitting lower than 36 % of their pictures and had dedicated 5 turnovers. South Florida was taking part in prefer it wasn’t afraid of the reigning champion.
But the sport is 40 minutes, not 10.
After the rocky begin, extra of South Carolina’s pictures began falling, and the Gamecocks raised the defensive stress significantly on the Bulls. South Carolina pulled forward by 4 factors at halftime after which hit the gasoline within the second half, operating away with the 76-45 victory.
Forward Aliyah Boston stated in a postgame TV interview that the sluggish begin was a product of South Florida’s defensive depth.
“We were just trying to figure them out a little bit,” she stated.
And they did. South Carolina moved the ball freely within the second half and dedicated simply 4 turnovers, whereas holding South Florida to simply 7 factors within the third quarter and 9 within the fourth.
Elena Tsineke led the early cost for South Florida with 7 factors within the first. She completed with a team-high 20.
Guard Zia Cooke paced South Carolina with 21 factors. Boston added 11 factors and 11 rebounds for her 81st profession double-double. The group’s depth was additionally on show, with 14 gamers hitting the ground and 11 of them scoring.
The Gamecocks pushed their file to 34-0 and can play within the spherical of 16 for the ninth consecutive event. — Sara Ziegler
Xavier averted a misstep towards a Pitt group on a roll.
One factor of the N.C.A.A. tournaments that emerges with so many groups taking part in concurrently and in fast succession: No program needs to finish up a cautionary instance of their bracket, and typically a group takes out that sentiment on its opponent.
That was how No. 3 seed Xavier approached Pittsburgh, a No. 11 seed that had come into the Sunday matchup trying prefer it had a contemporary mandate after sneaking into the sphere, then successful a play-in recreation and dispatching Iowa State with ease within the first spherical.
Ultimately that was all simply fodder for the Musketeers, who bought spooked by Kennesaw State in a first-round recreation early Friday afternoon after which watched over the following 48 hours as so many huge packages — Purdue, Duke, Kansas — faltered.
They took that out on the Panthers, operating up the rating by taking part in effectively down low, passing skillfully and steeling themselves for a run, very similar to a tennis or boxing mismatch by which one aspect needs to dominate by straight rattling and outmaneuvering their opponent.
So when Pitt had its one good run late, to get inside 8 factors with lower than two minutes left, it was too little too late to cease Xavier from advancing to the spherical of 16, 84-73, and searching robust whereas doing it. — Oskar Garcia
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